^3 ^o^ 

Volume XVI 



March, 1916 



Number 23 



BULLETIN 



OF 



The New York State College of 
Forestry 



AT 



Syracuse University 



The Planting of Forest Trees by the Public 
Schools of the State 



A Forest Day for the State to Supplement Arbor Day 




Published Quarterly by the 
University 



Entered at the Postoffice at Syracuse as second class matter 



-lffOI10^r"i>'yi^ 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE 
OF FORESTRY 

Available upon application for residents of the State 



The Reforestation of Cut Over and Idle Lands in New York 
*Possibilities of Municipal Forestry in New York. . . . By Nelson C. Brown 

Wood-Using Industries of New York By John T. Harris 

The Planting of Forest Trees by the Public Schools of the State 

Systematic Street Tree Planting By H. R. Francis 

Courses in Pulp and Paper Making 

Report on the Street Trees of the City of New York 

State Forest Camp in the Adirondacks 

A Street Tree System for New York City By L. D. Cox 



TECHNICAL SERIES 

No. 1. 1914. Preliminary Report on the Diseases of Fish in the Adiron- 
dacks. A contribution to the Life History of Clinosto- 
mum marginatum, by Dr. W. M. Smallwood, pp. 1-27. 

No. 2. I. A New Species of Pityogenes, by J. M. Swaine, pp. 8-10. 

II. Observations on the Life History and Habits of Pityogenes 
hopkinsi Swaine, by M. W. Blackman, pp. 11-66. 

No. 3. 1916. The Develo^ent of the Vegetation of New York State, 
by Dr. William L. Bray, pp. 1-166. 

No. 4. 1916. The Relation of the ]\Iollusks to Fish in Oneida Lake, by 
Frank C. Baker. 

LEAFLETS 

Why Forests and Forestry are Necessary in New York. 

Hints for the Woodlot Owner. 

A Simple Post Treating Plant. 

Tree Seeds, Seed Beds and Forest Plantations. 

The Economic Side of New York State Woodlands. 

The New York State College of Forestry, Its Establishment, Organization 
and Work, and the Opportunities for Its Graduates. 



*Temporarily cut of print. 




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Of n 


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FACULTY 



OF 



The New York State College of Forestry 



AT 



SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 



James Roscoe Day, S. T. D., D. C. L.. LLD. 
Chancellor of the University 

Hugh Potter Baker. xM. F. (Yale 1904) ; D. Oec. (Munich 1910) 

Dean of the College and Professor of Silviculture 

Frank F. i\Ioox, B. A. (Amherst College 1901) ; M. F. (Yale 1909) 

Professor of Forest Engineering 

Maulsby Willett Blackman, A. B. (Univ. of Kansas 1901); Ph.D. 

(Harvard Univ. 1905) 

Professor of Forest Entomology 

Edward F. McCarthy, B. S., M. S. F. (Univ. of Michigan 1911) 
Professor of Forestry at Slate Ranger School 

Nelson Courtlandt Brown, B. A. (Yale College 1906) : M. F. (Yale 
University 1908) 
Professor of Forest Utilisation 

J. Fred Baker, B. S. (Michigan Agricultural College 1902); M. F. (Yale 

University 1905) 
Director of Forest Investigations 

Leigh H. Pennington, A. B., 1907, Ph.D. (Univ. of Michigan 1909) 
Professor of Forest Pathology 

George A. Gutches, M. F. (University of ^lichigan 1910) 
Director of State Ranger School 

John Wallace Stephen. B. A., M. S. F. (Univ. of Michigan 1907) ; M. Pd. 
(Mich. Normal College 1915) 

Assistant Professor of Silviculture 

Reuben Parker Prichard, B. S. (Dartmoulli College 1907) ; 'M. V. (Yale 

University 1909) 
Assistant Professor of Forest Technology 



Charles Christopher Adams, B. S. (Illinois Weslevan 1896) ; M. S. 

(Harvard Univ. 1899) ; Ph.D. (Univ. of Chicago 1908) 

Assistant Professor of Forest Zoology 

Henry R. Francis, B. S. (Massachusetts x\gricultural College 1910) 
Assistant Professor of Landscape Extension 

Harry P. Bkown, B. S. 1909, A. M. 1910, Ph.D. (Cornell University 1914) 
Assistant Professor of Forest Botany 

Shirley W. Allen. B. S. A. (Iowa State College 1909) 
.Issistaiit Professor of Forest Extension 

Laurie D. Cox, A. B. (Arcadia College 1903) ; B. S. L. S. (Harvard 
University 1908) 
Assistant Professor of Landscape Engineering 

William A. McDonald, B. S. F. (Michigan Agricultural College 1913) 
Assistant Professor of Forest Extension 

Russell Taylor GhEEn, B. S. F. (Pennsylvania S'ate College 1912) : M. F. 

(The New York State College of Forestry 1914) 

Assistant Professor of Forest Extension 

Howard Blaine W.aha, B. S. (Pennsylvania State College 1909) 
Assistant Professor of Fc rest Engineering 

Henry Harrington Tryon, A. B., M. F. ( Harvard University 1913) 

I nstrnctor in Forest Utili.zafion 

William O. Ellis, A. B. (Lebanon Vallev College 1911); M. S. (Iowa 
vState College 1913) 

Instructor in Forest Entomology 

Carkington Macearlane 
Field Assistant in Forest Inzrstigations 

Mildred E. Wood, B. L. E. ( Syracuse University 1914) 
Librarian 

Lillian M. Lang 
Secretary to the Dean 

Wilfred L. BassETT 
Assistant Treasurer 

Walter W. Chipman, B. S. (Wabash College 1893) 
Cashier 

Martha Jeanette Harrington, B. L. E. (Syracuse University 1914 > 

Recorder 



PLANTING OF FOREST TREES BY THE 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE STATE 

For a number of years it has been the custom on the first 
Friday in May of each year for the school children of the Com- 
monwealth to plant one or more shade trees or groups of orna- 
mental shrubs on the grounds surrounding the public schools. 
Those who introduced this custom believed that the planting 
of a few trees and shrubs would impress upon the boys and 
girls of the State the importance of trees in the life of the com- 
munity, and that constant contact with trees and shrubs which 
the student had planted with his own hands would create in 
him a love for nature and for the great out-of-doors. 

In many communities Arbor Day has meant much and its 
observance has resulted not only in a beautification of the 
school grounds, but in the interesting of many girls and boys in 
trees and outdoor things generally. The idea of Arbor Day 
originated in Nebraska, where trees do not grow as easily as in 
New York and where there have always been fewer trees and 
therefore a greater need for them. The transfer of Arbor Day 
bodily from Nebraska to New York has meant that it has not 
been accepted in many communities because not needed. Many 
school grounds are already sufficiently planted, and it is to 
these schools that the College of Forestry appeals especially for 
the planting of a school forest by the pupils. 

The Department of Education of the State of New York has 
done a great deal in stimulating interest in the celebration of 
Arbor Day in the past, and it has larger plans for a continua- 
tion of an Arbor Day celebration in the schools of the State. 
There are still many school grounds which need ornamental 
trees and shrubs, and important lessons may be taught the chil- 
dren through the carrying out of Arbor Day exercises. The 
New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, 
which was established for the purpose of giving educational 
work in forestry throughout this State, is in a position to sup- 
plement and carry forward the splendid work being carried on 
by the Department of Education in the observance of Arbor 
Day. It hopes, therefore, not only to stimulate greater interest 

5 



in Arbor Day by co-operation with the State Education De- 
partment, but it proposes to supplement and extend the work 
begun on Arbor Day by assisting schools in the planting of a 
thousand or more forest trees so that each school may have a 
miniature forest of its own. The College is therefore issuing 
this rather brief announcement with a hope that the high 
schools especially of the State may become interested in mak- 
ing the planting of trees in the spring something more than a 
day of exercises and possibly the planting of trees upon 
grounds already well shaded. 




School Children Planting a School Forest under direction 
of a Forester from Syracuse. 

The Idea of a Forest Day to Supplement Arbor Day Developed 
Through Need of Protection of the Forests of the State 

For several years the College of Forestry has been teaching 
through the State the necessity for protecting the forests 
owned by the State in the Adirondacks and Catskills from fire, 
and, further than this, has been urging the development of a 
State-wide forest fire law. It has not met with opposition to 
these ideas on the part of the people, but it has m.et constantly 
with indifference not only from those who own the forests but 
those who seek the forests for the game they contain or for 
recreation. As the efforts for forest protection through the 
State continue it becomes ever more apparent that if perma- 
nent results are to follow the educational work done by the 
College, the children of the State must be taught not only to 
love the trees but to believe in them as trees and as forests for 
the value which trees and forests have for the State. The Col- 



lege feels that if the boys and girls will take part in the planting 
of a thousand small trees on some bit of idle land in the vicinity 
of the school, very much has been done for the protection of the 
forests of the State. Boys and girls who have planted a minia- 
ture forest and watched the trees grow are not going into the 
forest and leave a burning camp fire or throw down a burning 
match. Furthermore, they have taken part in a piece of real 
constructive work for the State and have been introduced in an 
effective way to the problem of the utilization of the idle lands 
of the State. 

How to Begin a School Forest 

It is not the idea of the College that the starting of a School 
Forest or the development of a Forest Day in the State shall 
take the place of Arbor Day or the exercises which have been 
held through the years upon this Day. The idea of a School 
Forest for every school in New York is urged by the College 
as a step beyond what could be successfully carried out in the 
State before the organization of a strong State College of 
Forestry to guide the development of this work. The College 
will co-operate in every possible way with the State Depart- 
ment of Education in its celebration of Arbor Day in the 
schools and then hopes to guide the next step beyond, which 
will be the development of a Forest Day, not necessarily 
coming at the same time as Arbor Day, but at the time best 
suited to the planting of forest trees. 

The idea of planting from one to five thousand trees on 
some bit of idle land in the vicinity of the school building is 
generally new to the great mass of pupils in high schools and 
other public schools, yet some of the schools of the State have 
been holding a Forest Day for the past three or four years 
and some schools have already planted from one to ten 
thousand trees under the direction of Foresters from The 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse. Two years ago the 
school children of Hornell set out some 25,000 trees on the 
city water shed seven miles from Hornell. The peuple of the 
city were very greatly interested in this Forest Day, took the 
children from the city to the future forest in motor cars and 
did all in their power to make the day a success. 

The Boys' Conservation League of Glens Falls, New York, 
made up of a group of school boys, plants each year from one 

7 



to three thousand trees on idle lands both within and without 
the city limits. The League developed this idea several years 
ago and some of the trees planted are now five or six feet in 
height, giving the boys the pleasure of seeing results of their 
labors, and they are realizing, therefore, to a surprising extent 
the part they are playing in real constructive conservation for 
the State. The school children of Jamestown have actually 
purchased a School Forest of 100 acres and have already begun 
some forest w^ork on their "One Hundred Acre Tract." 




A Sucessful New York Snowbreak. 

Last spring eleven different schools of the State took ad- 
vantage of the service offered by the College and one or more 
thousand trees were planted by each school. This number 
included Binghamton High School, Seventh grade boys of 
Dunkirk Schools, the High School of New Berlin, Pike 
Seminary in Wyoming county, Newark Valley High School, 
Owego High School, a country school in Montgomery county, 
and Sherburne High School. 

In nearly all of the work done so far in the State along 
these lines, the women of the communities interested have 
been very influential in seeing the work successfully carried 
out. 

Land Suited for Planting Not Difficult to Locate 

With few exceptions, high schools and other public schools 
interested in beginning a school forest will find pieces of idle 
land in the form of barren ridges or hillsides in the vicinity of 

8 



the school, the owners of which will be very glad to have 
planted to forest trees. The nearer the school that these 
plantations can be located the greater the interest the school 
will take in the planting. If such pieces cannot be found there 
are often idle lands about the city reservoirs or in undeveloped 
portions of city parks. A little inquiry on the part of the 
instructional force of the school or the boys themselves will 
bring to light locations where plantings may be done. In 
some instances it may be possible to find bits of State land so 
close to the school that they may be secured from the State 
for School Forest purposes, or permission may be granted by 
the State for their use by the school. 

Securing the Trees and Establishing the Forest 

The State of New York, through its State Conservation 
Commission leads the States of the Union in the development 
of forest nurseries and reforestation work. Citizens of New 
York may secure trees for reforestation work at cost. Stock 
of sufficient size to plant in school forests ranges in price from 
$3.50 to $5.00 per thousand, depending on species and age. 
The more rapid growing kinds, such as White Pine, Red or 
Norway Pine and Norway Spruce are recommended for aver- 
age conditions. Application should be made direct to the 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse, N. Y. 

It is probable that the future forests of the State will be 
made up of a few rapid growing evergreens and hence the 
suggestion that the School Forest be planted to these ever- 
greens. We can, as a rule, grow two good evergreen trees to 
commercial maturity while we are growing one broadleaf or 
hardwood such as the Ash, Hard Maple or Elm. Should 
schools prefer to plant hardwoods it will be possible to supply 
to some extent seedling trees of White Ash, American Bass- 
wood or Linden, Whitewood or Tulip, and Red Oak. The 
hardwoods will be seedlings from one to three years old and 
the evergreens will be transplants from two to four years old. 

Upon the receipt of the trees at the School the box or 
basket should be opened, and if the planting is to be done 
within the next day or two, it should be placed in a cool shed 
or cellar. If it is not possible to do the planting for several 
days then the trees should be taken out of the basket and the 
roots buried carefully in fresh soil. If a trench is dug, pre- 

9 



ferably in the shade of a building or on the east or north slope 
of a hill and the roots placed in the fresh mineral soil in the 
trench and fresh soil placed back against the roots and 
thoroughly packed against them, the trees can be kept in good 
condition in this way for several weeks if necessary. This 
process is known as "heeling in." 

When the planting is to be done the trees can be lifted out 
of the trench with a spade or mattock, not pulled out, placed 
in pails with the roots in water or in baskets, with the roots 
kept covered with moist moss or moist sacks. Three or four 
good husky boys will plant easily one thousand trees a day. 

The State College of Forestry Will Send a Forester for the 
Supervision of the Planting of the School Forest 

If schools will write to The College of Forestry at Syracuse, 
suggestions will be given as to the kinds of trees to plant in 
different soils, where and when to get them and how they 
may be planted if a Forester is not present to help. The 
College will be very glad to send out a trained Forester to 
supervise the planting where the school will plant at least a 
thousand trees. 

The usual way of planting trees is to divide the boys up into 
groups of 3 or 4 so that one may keep the alignment, one or 
two dig holes and one do the planting. The usual distance 
of planting in a school forest is 6 x 6 feet. This will call for 
1,210 trees to the acre. When planting great care must be 
taken to remove the duflf or sod from the surface, and unless 
the roots of the little tree are put into the fresh mineral soil and 
the soil firmly packed around the roots so there will be no air 
spaces, the little tree is apt to dry out very quickly. A little 
care used just at the time the roots are put into the ground 
will mean a great deal in the development of the little tree. 
Trees grow like weeds in New York and success in planting 
is largely a question of getting the roots firmly placed in fresh 
mineral soil at the beginning. With proper planting and 
ordinary weather conditions, about 90 to 95 per cent, of the 
little trees should live, and unless the growth of grass and 
brush is exceedingly heavy where the trees have been planted, 
it will not be necessary to do anything more than to protect 
the trees from fire and from being trampled by horses and 
cattle. 

10 



After the trees have been planted they grow very rapidly 
and it will be but two or three years before the boys and 
girls will see the practical results of this constructive work. 
The necessity for the practice of forestry in New York is no 
longer a question and the College feels sure that once the 
boys or girls become interested in a forest plantation they will 
take the right attitude toward the forests of the State and will 
understand what Forestry means and what the forests may 
accomplish for the State, not only in the way of producing 
lumber but in conserving the water supply of the State and in 
developing recreation places for the people. 




Slope on a New York farm beginning to wash, 
planted to forest trees. 



This should be 



Plan Early for Forest Day 

It should not be difficult to find some public spirited citizen 
who will be glad to turn over one to two or three acres of land 
for the development of a school forest. If this is not possible, 
take up the matter with the city officials to see if there are not 

11 



sections of undeveloped parks or land about the reservoirs 
where planting would be an advantage from every standpoint. 

After securing the land, the College suggests that the 
principal of the School write, giving accvirate description of 
the soil and moisture conditions of the area. It may be well, 
where it is difficult to describe the soil, to send a small sample 
of it by parcel post. The College will then make general 
suggestions as to the trees suited for the particular school 
forest. An order sheet will be sent by the College which may 
be used for ordering the seedlings and this may be filled out 
and sent directly to the College or to the State Conservation 
Commission at Albany. 

The College will suggest a day for the planting, depending 
upon weather conditions, and after the day has been settled 
upon by the school, arrangements will be made for a Forester 
from the College to guide the students in the planting. It may 
be desirable to have a talk for the students during the day on 
Forestry. 

The Forester will plan to get to the School the night before 
or early in the day so as to go over the ground, and will try 
to meet the older boys so as to organize them into planting 
groups. It is suggested that the girls assist in the planting 
either directly through carrying the trees for the planting or 
in furnishing the lunch for the boys who plant. Before the 
planting is started the Forester from the College will be glad 
to give a talk either in the school or in the open on "Trees and 
what they mean to the community," or will give a more formal 
illustrated lecture on "Forests and Forestry in New York." 
The College believes that much can be done in schools in 
awakening interest in the many phases of the activities of the 
State through the starting of a School Forest. 

Where School Grounds Are Not Fully Planted the College 

Urges the Observance of Arbor Day by the Planting 

of Ornamental Trees and Shrubs 

There is nothing that adds, by so small an effort, so much 
to the attractiveness of the landscape of New York State, as 
the planting of good, long-lived shade trees. The most press- 
ing needs for the presence of shade trees are along country 
roadsides, village and city streets, town commons, village 
greens, city squares, rural cemeteries, recreation areas, play 

12 



grounds, and school grounds. The New York State College 
of Forestry will be very glad to assist in helping to lay out 
school grounds in the city and in the country, so that proper 
provisions may be made for a good growth of trees and by 
recommending the best sorts for special purposes. It is 
desirable to surround the buildings in which the youth of the 
State spend a large part of their time, with fine trees, properly 
planted and cared for. The impression made by beautiful 
surroundings is as essential to the proper development of our 
children's training as the providing of comfortable and sanitary 
buildings and good text books and teachers. School Boards, 
teachers and children as a rule are glad to improve school 
grounds if there is someone to suggest how this may be done 
with reasonable expenditure. Some of the best varieties of 
shade trees to plant are Norway Maple, Oriental Sycamore, 
Pin Oak, Red Oak, and Ailanthus for the cities ; American Elm, 
Sugar Maple, Hackberry, White Ash, Red Maple, and Tulip 
Tree for the towns and villages. The trees recommended for 
the cities can be best obtained from some nearby commercial 
nurseries. The varieties for town and country use may be 
secured from the fields and woodlands, although as a general 
rule, in this case only the small sizes should be transplanted. 
It is usually possiljle to interest Village Improvement 
Societies, Women's Clubs, and other Civic organizations in 
giving support to tree planting campaigns. Where a quantity 
of shade trees are to be planted arrangements can sometimes 
be made to secure free aid from the State through The New 
York State College of Forestry at Syracuse, N. Y. 



Other Helps in Interesting Students in Forests 
and Their Products 

The State College of Forestry at Syracuse has prepared a 
set of 30 difi^erent hand specimens of woods of the State. 
These are 3" x 5" and a little less than >4" thick. Each speci- 
men is carefully labeled and numbered and the label gives the 
common and technical name of the tree, its distribution and 
use. A\'ith the set comes a little pamphlet describing the 
structure of the wood and making special reference to the set 
of woods. This set of woods will be furnished to any school 
or clul) in the State wishing them at cost, which includes 

13 



transportation. This cost is 50 cents. At all times the College 
will be glad to identify, at no cost, specimens of trees and 
shrubs and pieces of wood. 

The College is preparing for distribution also a set of some 
30 different kinds of tree seeds. These are put up in small 
glass vials, carefully labeled and will be shipped in a block of 
wood, each vial in a compartment by itself, so there will be 
no danger of breakage, and the set will be very easily handled 
in the school. This set of seeds, with the pamphlet describing 
them, will be sold at cost which will be the same as for the 
woods collection. 




A thrifty White Pine Woodlot in New York, showing best use of 
unproductive hilltops and slopes. 



The College of Forestry Will Identify Specimens of Trees, 
Shrubs and Woods 

It may be that there are trees or shrubs growing about the 
school buildings or on the grounds about the homes of the 
boys and girls which are not known to them. It may be that 
certain woods are being used in manufacturing plants in the 
city or in repairing the school buildings or the home buildings 
which are not known to the pupils. The College will be glad 
at all times to identify specimens of trees and shrubs and the 
woods, giving both the common and scientific names. If 
possible, with trees and shrubs send in small specimens of 
leaves, buds, and flowers or fruit if they can be obtained. A 
small piece of wood two or three inches long and an inch thick 

14 



will be sufficient. It should be possible for the children of the 
school, through the aid which the College can give in identifi- 
cation of trees to get acquainted with the trees of the entire 
community. Possibly the school may wish to assist in making 
a tree census in the community as well as aiding in the proper 
labeling of trees in the parks or about the public buildings. 
The College will supply tree and shrub labels of uniform size 
o;iving common and scientific names, and these at cost. 




Spruce Plantation at State Forest Experiment Station, south of Syracuse 



15 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000 881 973 7 

THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY 

at 
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 

Designated and supported by the State as the Institution 
for educational work in Forestry in New York. 

Offers at 
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 



FOUR AND FIVE YEAR PROFESSIONAL COURSES, 

Leading to degrees of Bachelor of Science (B. S.), Master of 
Forestry (M. F.) and Doctor of Economics (D. Oec). 

At the State Ranger School on College Forest of 1,800 acres 
at A\'anakena, in the Adirondacks, a one-year Ranger Course. 

On Cranberry Lake, in the Western Adirondacks, the 
August Forest Camp, where anyone interested in the woods 
can get a month of directed recreation along forestry lines. 

As a part of its State-wide educational work, the College 
offers to make plans for the protection and management of 
timberlands and woodlots and for the reforestation of cut-over 
and barren areas. Where the timberland, or woodlots, or 
barren areas are between 300 and 1,000 acres or over, and 
vv'here there is a reasonable assurance that plans will be carried 
out. they will be made at no expense to the owner. Where 
there is less than the above amount, it will be necessary for 
owners to pay expenses of traveling and sustenance Avhile the 
plan is being made. Owners of small tracts may combine and 
by bringing the area to 300 or more acres, have plans made 
without cost. 

The College invites correspondence at any time as to its 
educational work or regarding the protection and management 
of forests or woodlots, tree planting, forest insects and tree 
diseases, and timber treating-. 



16 



